"Blessed are those who can give without remembering and take without forgetting."

-Elizabeth Bibesco

"All you need is love. But a little chocolate now and then doesn't hurt.

-Charles M. Schulz

"Your time is limited, so don't waste it living someone else's life. Don't be trapped by dogma -- which is living with the results of other people's thinking. Don't let the noise of others' opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary."

Be sure to check out the winter rentals in St John USVI. NOW is the time to reserve. Only 2 weeks left. We've been going for over 30 years. St John is magical, you'll understand only if you go and experience it.

Our next letter will be our 300th. Thanks for being loyal readers. It's been 10 years. What will the future hold?

Rarely do I comment on current events. Yet, today the article is to help us to focus on the good current events and to create them ourselves.

If you go to Amazon.com you can buy 365 Moments of Grace. I am one of the authors, it's a great read, and you will enjoy the moving stories. It also makes a perfect gift.

We have two new workbooks that will be available soon on the website. Watch for them. I expect they will be available before the 300th letter.

Keep cool, keep working, keep making a difference.

BEST,

Author, Speaker, Navigator

PS: Share Shipp's Log Newsletter or sign up for yourself, if you haven't done so yet. It is all part of making 2016 the best year ever.

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Make a Difference

One of the great motivational stories of all time is the Star Thrower (from an essay by Loren Eiseley).

In the story we see a beach that is covered by starfish that have been grounded from the low tide. A child picks up a starfish and throws it into the sea, but as she reaches for another, a man comes along.

"Stop wasting your time!" the man warns the child. "There are far too many starfish and only one of you. You'll never save them all!"

The child picks up another starfish and sends it out to sea.

"It made a difference for this one!" she smiles.

The moral is simple:

There may be more people in the world than we can help, but if we focus our impact on one person at a time, we will serve far more people than if we never try.

Today the world seems to be in great turmoil and the daily news seems to have far more tragedies than ever before.

While so much is wrong, while we need change, we also have to focus on the positive.

There are lots of good, positive, and healthy things happening every day. Yet, that's not the emotional news that is broadcast. It happens every day in all cities and towns. Those are the stories and the lessons we need to hear and focus on.

We can all make a difference. We can all help someone else. One of my personal favorite quotes is:

"To the world you may be one, but to one you may be the world."

Think of who has helped you and what it meant. Think of how many times people have helped you over the years. The small things are as important as the big ones. Make a list of the support and kindnesses shown you over the years. I bet you'll be surprised. Have you paid it forward?

Let's all make a difference for one today. Let's all do something positive. Let's make the world a better place to live. It's up to us, each one of us. Let's start today, right here, right NOW.